Dr. John diverts praise for new disc with Black Keys guitarist, Grammy, Rock Hall to others

March 12, 2013|By John J. Moser, Of The Morning Call

Even after a solo recording career that this year marks 45 years, even after being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, even after winning his sixth Grammy Award in February for his newest album, "Locked Down," famed New Orleans R&B/jazz/pop singer Dr. John is the consummate sideman.

For someone who started his career providing backing for Sonny and Cher, Canned Heat, Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention and many others, it's not unexpected when Dr. John diverts congratulations for his latest Grammy to his collaborator on the disc, The Black Keys guitarist Dan Auerbach.

"Well, I look at it like, it's a great thing to get ideas from different levels of this racket we call music," Dr. John, whose real name is Malcolm "Mac" Rebennack, says in a recent telephone call from his hometown of New Orleans.

"And I have to give him props, Dan wanted to do something, had the idea for this record, you know? And … I liked it."

Dr. John even attributes the album's use of Afrobeat to his usual mix of rock, funk and blues – an element the Los Angeles Times said was "magical, the embodiment of everything he's done but pushed in a clear new direction" -- to Auerbach. The guitarist not only played on the disc, but produced it.

"He came to New Orleans and hung out with me a little bit. He was very nice, and when we went to the studio … he recommended different things," Dr. John says. "He was locked into doing a lot of that Cuban stuff."

The disc represents yet another career peak for Dr. John, who started his solo career with 1968's "Gris-Gris," a hybrid of New Orleans rhythm and blues and psychedelic rock that Rolling Stone magazine lists among it 150 greatest albums of all time.

That makes 2013 the 45th anniversary of Dr, John's recordings, but he brushes off such milestones, noting "that's only as an artist under the name of Dr. John. But I had made records since 1956 under the name Mac Rebennack and I had did records before that."

But it wasn't until 1973 that he came into the consciousness of the broader listening public with the Top 10 hit "Right Place, Wrong Time." He since has had career peaks with his first Grammy in 1989 for his revival of the jazz standard "Makin' Whoopie," then won another in 1992 for "Goin' Back to New Orleans," an album of classic New Orleans songs with city musicians such as The Neville Brothers.

He also branched out into writing jingles for television commercials (Popeye Chicken), TV sitcom themes (the 1990s show "Blossom") and movie songs (the Grammy-nominated "Down In New Orleans," which was the opening song from Disney's "Princess and the Frog.")

Two years ago he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but even at the mention of that, Dr. John diverts attention to Joe Tex, who was nominated in 2011 with Dr. John but didn't win induction. Tex's career stretched from the 1950s to the '80s, he had million-selling hits such as "I Gotcha," and his style has been cited as an influence to hip-hop.

"it's been my mission since I got into this to get Joe Tex in," Dr. John says. "Without Joe Tex, there's no James Brown and even Jackie Wilson used his microphone tricks. And there were a lot of artists who really got a lot out of Joe."

Asked specifically about his feelings about his own induction, Dr. John says, "I really don't know yet. I just feel like it's got to be something that means something else to me in some way for me to feel the great thing."

But he says he's especially high on the new album, and encourages people to come to the Musikfest Café show to hear music from it.

"Check it out 'cause we're doing stuff that's real fresh," he says. "I think it will be very interesting."